Published: Tip #12--Write Book Proposal FIRST

Writing my book proposal before finishing my memoir, Anything But a Dog! (The perfect pet for a girl with congenital CMV), was the best thing I ever did. I wish I had written it before starting the manuscript because it would have forced me to focus on "What is my theme?"; "Who is my audience"; "How do I plan to sell it to them?" and "How many can I realistically sell?"

Writing a book proposal is A LOT of work, much harder than writing the book (in my opinion anyway). But once you have those key questions answered, it will force you to stay on track as you flesh out your chapters--and a book proposal is required when asking a publisher to consider your non-fiction book. The agony of a book proposal is summarizing each chapter--in a way that's as exciting as your entire manuscript should be.

Scroll down my buttons on the right and you will see my book proposal that landed me a publisher for Anything But a Dog! (The perfect pet for a girl with congenital CMV)--I was given permission to share it with the public. If you are more interested in other "How to Get Published" topics, then you'll see another button for my free e-book that can be downloaded in many formats through Smashwords.com.

I'm not alone in stressing the importance of writing a book proposal first (and I agree with Diane below--it's important to do even if you self-publish because you have to find ways to target and market it to a particular audience--enough to make someone spend money on it):


Published: Tip #12
"Write a book proposal first, before the book. Include the marketing plan. This will help you get focused on the right things, even if you end up self-publishing." Diane Eble, publishing coach http://www.yourbookpublishingcoach.com/, author of the free Author Success Plan minicourse